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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

As you prepare for your new baby, perhaps you dream about dressing your boy in blue. Maybe he will wear what you wear now, like a miniature version of you. Maybe you imagine your daughter in a summer dress, blowing bubbles on your front porch. Perhaps you reject the traditional roles of children's clothing, and decide you're going to dress your children how you wished your parents had dressed you. Yet, as soon as the baby comes, all expectations, plans, and daydreams fly out of the window. Dreams become real, and they often leave you overwhelmed. Suddenly children's clothes seem trivial, and you'll dress them in whatever you can find.

There's no reason to give up on those daydreams you had before the baby arrived. It just takes some extra effort. You know that your child will hit growth spurts and that you'll end up buying new clothes constantly - so make it fun! Like food, clothing is one of the universal things that humanity shares, regardless of culture or location. Children's clothes are for the parent just as much as they are for the child. Embrace the opportunity, and rather than buying a shirt with the latest action movie character on it, get a classic polo. Treat the clothes as investments. If you have timeless pieces than can withstand the test of time, you can retain them for future children, or the children of friends and family.

In a digital age where parents can capture every moment on a cell phone or a webcam, post every memory on a blog or print and paste them into a scrapbook, there's still a way to give those moments a timeless appeal. Flip through old family photos and see the clothes your parents chose for you. One day your kids will look at old photos and do the same thing.